Project ARA

Toshiba can be very happy with its Project ARA work so far. The Japan-based company has contributed a lot to the framework and structure that will hold the modules of the Project ARA smartphone together – which if didn’t know is a modular smartphone project now spearheaded by Google. Toshiba has just recently showed off its camera modules for the project – one of, if not the first, camera module tested as working on the Project ARA framework.

More and more outfits are buying into Project ARA’s modular smartphone project. We talked about audio experts Sennheiser entering big-time into the project by designing an audio module for the smartphone, and they’re back with some amazing updates. Another outfit who specialize in style and healthy living – Lapka – is also keen to show off their plans for the modular project.

Project Ara is a platform still in development - not yet ready for the consumer market. There are still parts of the phone that are works in progress and/or require more research before final market readiness. Security is one issue that remains in the Ara project for now - battery life is another. One thing - actually, several parts - that are actually confirmed and working are all in physical hardware - the Endo base of the phone and Module pieces. How do you interchange them? How are these Modules mounted on the base?

We have talked quite a bit about the Google Project Ara device around here. Earlier this week we offered up a hands on with the device showing you how you can snap modules together to design your own smartphone with the capabilities you want. One of the things we didn’t go into great detail about was how you configure and program those modules to work.

The modular smartphone you're about to take a peek at goes by the name Project Ara. It's a modular smartphone concept, coming from Google ATAP and actually - eventually - coming to the market with its own hardware store. Where you may have purchased your own custom Moto X in the past, you get one shot - the device stays as it is. With Project Ara, you've got the option of updating the smartphone's hardware - new pieces can be added whenever you like.

Today at the 2nd annual Project Ara Developer Conference, Google has announced the launch to the second edition of the Project Ara modular phone. This second edition, like the first, is made for use by developers and hardware manufacturers only. The device's first release won't take place inside the United States or anywhere inside Europe. There is also no estimated time frame for the device platform's eventual US-based release, as Google waits to see how the Project Ara unfolds first in Puerto Rico.

Our favorite modular phone guys, Project Ara, has just made public the second version of their Module Developers Kit (MDK) – which basically contains all you need to know if you want to create a module for Project Ara based on the Spiral 2 prototype. This was done ahead of the Ara Developers Conference slated on February 14 – we guess that the contents of the MDK will be big talking points on the conference itself.

A little December update from our modular phone developing friends at Project ARA – which basically says that the Spiral 2 prototype, scheduled to be shown at the Project Ara Developers Conference in January, is moving along really well. We really hope 2015 will be a big year for modular phones.

With the Project Ara Module Developers Conference coming up early in 2015, Google is hyping up interest in Project Ara – the popular modular smartphone project. It should be known to Google that a number of competitors in modular smartphone development have come up, and the conference should be a great boost for them. With that in mind, here comes a sneak peek of Project Ara’s Spiral 2 prototype PCB.

First it was Vsenn, that mysterious new entry into the modular phone development scene that is preeminently dominated by Google (initially Motorola’s) Project Ara, who also took up the call to produce a modular smartphone. Now, a new project with a decidedly Finnish DNA called Puzzlephone is also making its entry into the modular phone business.